


Reunions

by Feyvolta



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Biting, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Spoilers, Fluff and Smut, My First Work in This Fandom, Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal Spoilers, Protectiveness, Reunion Sex, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:47:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29416611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feyvolta/pseuds/Feyvolta
Summary: Skylar has returned from the First. Still far from her home in the Shroud, she decides to spend the night at the Forgotten Knight where she finds someone is already waiting for her . . .
Relationships: Warrior of Light/Estinien Wyrmblood
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	Reunions

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic, please be kind - am smol and nervous. 🥺
> 
> There's a few bits where dragonspeak gets used (happens towards the end) so here is a quick translation:
> 
> An asah - "my redemption"  
> An ahm - "my song"  
> An ehsk - "my love"
> 
> Thank you for choosing to read my first fic! ❤

The bitter cold wind howled around the stone building as Skylar hurried down the dimly lit street towards The Forgotten Knight.

Her traveling cloak did little to diminish the chill as it whipped about her and her fur felt stiff from the freezing air. It had been so long since last she had been here that she had forgotten how cruel the Coerthan climate could be.

As she approached the door of the pub a number of Elezen men exploded out into the night, laughing merrily and smelling strongly of ale. Skylar sidestepped them and ducked in the door.

Making her way down the stairs she saw that neither the usual barkeep nor innkeeper were working this late. Instead tending the taps alone was the Forgotten Knight's proprietor.

She kept her hood up. She was well known in Ishgard – how could she not be? – and she had no doubt the gentleman would recognise her but tonight she wanted anonymity. At least from the other patrons.

"What can I get you, lass?" Gibrillont said, sliding a mug of ale down the countertop towards one such individual, who she noted wore a hooded travelling cloak of their own.

Skylar eyed them wearily before turning back to Gibrillont and answering.

"A room, if you'd be so kind," she replied, placing the gil on the countertop and pushing it towards the proprietor.

He took the coin and exchanged it for a key which she accepted with a quiet thanks.  
Pulling her cloak about her she made for the doorway beside the bar, her satchel at her side bouncing with each step she took.

The number on the key signified her designated room and she made note of it as she climbed the staircase to the floor above. It was barely lit up here with few lights adorning the walls. With her Miqo'te sight however she fared better than most, even if such sight were compromised. Pushing her glasses up a little, she skimmed the plaques on the doors along the hall to find the correct one. Eager to get inside and warm up, Skylar made short work of the lock then slipped inside.

The space beyond was dark and the window frame rattled from the gales outside. It seemed such weather had been the beginnings of a blizzard – a flurry of white was rushing past the pane of glass and was slowly blanketing the spires of the buildings opposite.

She shivered and shut the door behind her, locking it before heading over to the fireplace where she knelt, taking the flint and steel from the top of mantle as she went.

The room had been provided with fresh firewood which Skylar presumed meant she was the first to use it since housekeeping had been done.

She could have lit the hearth with magick but Skylar disliked using it so needlessly. She had grown up in an environment where many around her simply had not had the affinity for it and so she had learned to make do with her hands first and foremost.

After a few moments of striking the flint and steel, the sparks caught the wood and small embers sprang to life, emitting a soft glow across the wooden floor and casting shadows along the walls. It would still be a while before the fire truly got underway and longer still before the warmth would spread throughout the room.

It would take even longer still, she thought, when the window suddenly burst open from a particularly forceful gale and plummeted the room into darkness again.

Skylar cursed the Twelve and stood to go and close it. It was surprising how much effort it took to do so – the wind was ferocious in its attempt to gain entry and she wondered how long the glass itself might last as she latched it shut.

She sighed in frustration and began rubbing at her arms through her cloak. Fury it was cold.

But her sigh wasn't the only noise that her ears picked up as she stood there in the dark.

A short metallic sounding clink whispered from somewhere in the blackest corner of the room. Skylar's fur stood on end and her ears pricked up, straining to hear anything more. She reached for her waist where her reserve wand was kept – there simply wouldn't be enough time to conjure and draw her rod or spear.

Deciding to hells with it, Skylar gave a flick of the short wooden weapon and a flurry of aether particles coalesced at the tip which she flung towards the open hearth.

The small fire spell caught hold of the wood and set it alight.

The light emanating from it bloomed across the open space and Skylar found herself momentarily frozen as she took in the sight of the hooded figure from the bar, whose silhouette was suddenly all too familiar.

Skylar sighed.

"Who told you where to find me?" she asked, folding her arms.

The tall figure reached up a hand and pulled back the hood.

Hair as white as the freshly falling snow spilled from the confines of the dark material as eyes of steel blue found her mismatched green ones.

Estinien.

He said nothing but took a few brisk strides towards her before seizing her face with hands rough and calloused from years of battle and handling lances.

"What are yo-" she began, but was cut short.

"Quiet."

It was practically a growl.

Narrowed eyes roved her face, searching for Twelve knew what before he finally spoke again and when he did it was still the same dark tone.

"Fury, woman - was it not enough that he almost got you killed in the Ghimlyt? Whatever prior connection the two of you have 'twas no basis to go through a Twelvesdamned rift to another swiving world!"

Skylar narrowed her eyes at him. "Nice to see you, too."

"Not as nice as it could have been, I am sure – not when your bloody noble intentions meant you disappeared without trace!"

"And what else could I have done?" Skylar retorted. "Noble intentions aside it was as much for the sake of his world as ours! Or did your snooping not inform you that the destruction of that world would beget more of the same?"

He let go of her and took a step back.

"Snooping? I would not have had to seek answers elsewhere if you had perhaps sent word of your situation instead of simply vanishing into the aether! Quite literally, I might add!"

Anger rose in her chest as she stepped towards him, fists clenched.

"Oh now that _is_ rich," she fumed. "I'm surprised that you were able to discern my whereabouts at all given your propensity for doing exactly that! Did you finally answer Tataru's calls or did you make one of your own for once?"

"Given my previous arrangement of requesting she only call if she bore news of you," he explained, "I took it upon myself to answer her. True to her word she divulged your wellbeing and whereabouts and went on her way."

"I am not some child to be coddled, Estinien. I can take care of myself!" She stopped right in front of him, glaring up into those eyes that she knew so well.

"If that is true," he growled, grasping her forearm and pulling her into him, yanking the collar of her cloak and shirt to the side as one to reveal the new scar on her collarbone, "explain this!"

Her time on the First had left several scars, that she knew. She had forgotten that not all of them were invisible.

The mark Elidibus had left on her when she thought she had lost the fight stretched vividly across the pronounced bone in the low light.

His blade had cut deeper than she had thought at the time, leaving a jagged edged wound that she scarce had the chance to worry about before she was dragged into the void. When she had gone back through the portal to face Elidibus again, however, she noticed that the process appeared to have healed her wounds. She had been given a second chance that night but it had not come without proof of her initial failure.

Skylar made to shove him away and cover herself but Estinien kept a hold of her.

She felt heat rising in her cheeks.

"It is nothing," she said, her voice low.

"That is far from nothing!" he growled. "Who did this to you?"

Skylar narrowed her eyes at him. What in Fury's name was his problem all of a sudden? She had been injured before. This was not the first time she had been given a souvenir of battle and it likely would not be the last.

"Someone I have long since dealt with but why in the world does it matter?"

"Because you could have died – _yet again_!"

His grip on her tightened as he spoke and he practically shook her as though doing so would make her see sense.

"I'm quite sure most of my endeavours run the risk of such a result," she said flippantly, "if I'm to be quite honest I thought I would have been dead long bef–"

Estinien growled in frustration, cutting her off.

In a rush of movement he grabbed at her wrists, using them as leverage to push her backwards towards the wall behind her. She hit the stone with some force but Estinien gave her no quarter – the moment her body collided with the cold surface he was upon her.

He towered over her, body arched in such a way that he could bring his face level with hers.

Skylar took in his expression. There was anger there, to be sure, but there was also something else as well and it was not an emotion she was accustomed to seeing on him.

He was scared.

Not of her, but _for_ her.

" _Do not_ ," he said through gritted teeth, "talk about your life like it is so easily forfeit!"

Her eyes widened in shock but before she could answer him, he spoke again.

"I never knew I could feel so much _fear_ – but finding you had gone... worst of all somewhere I could not even _follow_..."

He hung his head with a sigh and a curtain of silvery hair fell past his shoulders as he began to shake.

"Anything could have happened to you, anything at all and I would never..."

The pain in his voice was tangible now and Skylar wanted to comfort him but he held her in place still and so she waited.

After a moment he raised his head, seeking her eyes with his own and when he found them he spoke with a voice barely above a whisper, hoarse and on the verge of breaking.

"I almost lost you once. I will not allow it to happen again."

Before she could answer, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

The kiss was desperate. Needy. It spoke of released tension and fears put to rest. Of questions finally answered and frayed nerves knitting themselves back together.

It took her a moment but she kissed him back.

They had kissed many times before – stolen moments between battles, secret meetings under cover of darkness. Some gentle. Some passionate.

This?

This was different.

This was more primal than anything she had experienced. It was barely contained desire and wandering hands that left fire in their wake, hotter than that of Ifrit's own making. It was quickening breaths and levin on skin such that one would feel in the moments before a storm.

Estinien transferred both her wrists into one hand, holding them firmly against the wall above her head. His now free hand slid beneath Skylar's cloak, feeling the curve of her body against his callused palm, desperately pulling her closer to him as though she could melt into him and still not be close enough.

When he reached the hem of her shirt, he slipped beneath it to splay his hand across the warm skin of her waist where he began moving upwards to cup her breast over her smallclothes.

Skylar gasped between kisses. Seemingly unsatisfied with her response, Estinien broke the kiss to trail more of them down her jaw towards her throat.

Skylar was not unfamiliar with her body enough to ignore that her neck was very much an erogenous zone for her and she tensed with anticipation as she felt teeth graze lightly along her skin.

Slowly, deliberately, she felt those same teeth close around the flesh of her throat – applying pressure in a way that he knew would shivers down her spine.

The sensation made her groan combined with the feel of his hand at her breast and it seemed her reaction was more satisfactory this time as she felt rather than heard Estinien moan into her neck at the sound of her pleasure.

"Fury take me, I've missed you," Skylar said breathlessly.

"She'll have to get in line."

He released her hands to reach for the clasp of her cloak and hesitated a moment.

"May I?" he asked.

Skylar wordlessly reached for the fastening herself and unclipped it by way of an answer.

With that Estinien slowly lifted the cloak from her shoulders. Her scent was stronger now that it was unconfined by the heavier material and the memory of it made his blood sing with need.

She smelled of a mixture of fruit and floral scents – peach and orange blossom, carnation and orchid – all weaved in with a shadow of musk.

It was heady and intoxicating and inherently her and it near drove him mad being so close to her.

Beneath her travelling cloak, the Miqo'te wore a simple button down black shirt over leather pants and thigh high boots with a flat heel.

The sight of those pants clinging to her skin as though they were painted on was bad enough but the more he looked at her the more he noticed certain changes.

She'd put on a little weight since last he had seen her and the glow it gave her was nothing short of radiant. Prior to her foray onto the First, she had looked somewhat ill and had lost some weight due to the stresses she was enduring watching her comrades fall around her to a mystery illness. Now her hips seemed to curve just that little bit more and her breasts seemed to strain against the soft fabric that held them there. Even the flesh of her stomach seemed a little more plush to the touch though he knew there was muscle still beneath the soft flesh.

She was divinely tempting and Estinien could feel his arousal pressing against his trousers already.

Reaching out a hand he slid a finger between the top two buttons of her shirt and traced a thumb over the fabric, his mouth going dry at the urge that had just overtaken him.

"Have you more of these?" he asked her, giving the shirt a small tug.

"A few," she nodded.

"Halone be praised."

Without warning, he wrenched the shirt clean in two. Buttons popped free of their stitching and skittered across the room like pebbles on a lake.

It wasn't long before her black bralette followed suit and suddenly she was half naked.

 _Two can play at that_ , she thought, and reached up to simultaneously unclasp his own travelling cloak which fell from his shoulders onto the floor. Her hands tore the abyssal blue cloth covering his own torso apart, leaving his chest exposed to her touch.

The sight of his muscular chest and abdomen had her mouth forming into a small 'o' as she splayed her fingertips across the planes of his stomach in awe.

It occurred to her that while they may have shared kisses prior to this night they had not ever seen one another naked.

Skylar had no time to let the embarrassment sink in however because Estinien had other ideas.

The movement had taken him by surprise at first but her action had been the spark to the fire within him and he grabbed at her harder than he'd perhaps intended to.

Her back hit the wall roughly as Estinien pressed himself flush against her, the bare flesh of their bodies making up for how bitterly cold the room was even with the fire.

He kissed her hard, tongue pressing for entry at her mouth as he gripped at her rear to pull her hips into him – needy and desperate, his hips grinding against her own as she whimpered beneath him.

After a moment, he released her mouth to kiss his way down to her throat and then to her bare chest where lips encircled each nipple in turn and a hot tongue lapped at the hardened peaks.

The contact of his mouth versus the cold air of the room had her gripping at his shoulders, her nails digging into exposed skin as she bit her lip from the sensation – then shuddering as her released her nipple from his mouth with a sinfully audible _pop_.

Sliding hands down from her breasts, Estinien took hold of her leg, lifting it at the knee to ease off one of her boots. He repeated the motion with the other side and kicked the offending footwear away from them before reaching for the waistband of her leather pants.

He watched with baited breath as he peeled the black leather from her pale skin, revealing her black underwear beneath and thighs that he was suddenly desperate to feel wrapped around him, to _taste_ on his tongue, to _mark_ with his _teeth_.

When they reached her ankles she daintily stepped out of them before watching as he slung them aside.

Skylar looked down her body at the elezen now kneeling before her as he slid his hands back up her legs, smoothing over the soft skin. When he reached her hips again he circled around to cup her buttocks in his hands before literally ripping her underwear off of her.

"Those," she found herself saying hoarsely, "I didn't have another pair of."

Estinien glanced up at her with a smirk.

"Unfortunate – but you won't be needing them for the rest of the night anyway."

She was just about to protest when he placed a hand behind her knee and lifted it up onto his shoulder. Making good on his desire he began kissing his way up her inner thigh towards her sex, weaving little nips of his teeth in here and there that made her skin break out in goosebumps and her breath come in short, sharp gasps.

But then he pressed his mouth to her lower lips and began swirling his tongue over her sensitive bundle of nerves, alternating between licking and sucking for the added benefit of hearing her moan so deliciously above him.

The heat of his mouth sent a shiver through her and she leaned back into the wall for stability, one hand slamming back into the wall for purchase and the other in those infuriatingly silky locks of purest white.

"Oh gods!" she choked, her hips bucking as he stimulated her. He could feel her tensing up as he worked and she could do nothing more than whimper as he held her there by her hips.

Skylar made the mistake of looking down her body at him again to find him already gazing intently up at her, in thrall to her every reaction.

She knew immediately that she was in trouble when his hands slid up over her thighs to press palm down against her ass, angling her pelvis up so that she was more open to him.

A second later his tongue probed her entrance just slightly before slowly dipping inside of her.

Skylar threw her head back into the wall as a shudder passed through her to her very bones.

"Estinien!" she sobbed, the hand in his hair tightening mayhap a little too harshly as he tongue fucked her but he didn't seem to mind.

Fury he was going to be the death of her.

His tongue darted in and out of her before reverting to sucking and licking at her clit only for him to repeat the whole process over again.

"Esti, please-" she begged hoarsely. For what she did not know.

But the reaction she got made things so much more intense when he chose that moment to hum his approval at her begging.

The vibration sent a shock up her spine so sharp she almost choked on her very breath.

She was close, so _close_!

No, this wasn't how she wanted it to be.

"Not like this," she pleaded, releasing his hair from her hand and stroking the strands softly.

He stopped and lifted his head fully to see her face, her juices glistening on his swollen lips almost pushing her over the edge.

"Then how?" he asked, his smirk returning as the bastard _licked his lips like a godsdamned cat._

If she had half a mind to she would have thumped the arrogance out of him then and there for teasing her.

As it stood she could barely think of anything more than _need_ and _fuck_ and _Estinien_.

"Together," was all she could say in response, chest heaving even though he was barely touching her now.

But it was enough.

Placing her leg down and standing to his full height, Estinien shrugged off the tattered remains of his shirt and undid the fastening of his own pants, dropping them to his ankles. He stepped out of them and his underwear and kicked them aside, taking himself in hand he pumped himself once, twice.

Skylar could not help but be drawn to his member as he held himself before her.

He was big. And not just in length. He was blessed with width too.

For a moment she worried he would simply not be able to _fit_ but that worry was silenced by the onslaught of desire she felt to try.

 _Gods_ she wished he would touch her again already.

She did not have to wait long.

Stepping towards her, Estinien slipped his hands under her buttocks and lifted her easily off the ground so she could wrap her shapely legs around his waist. This new position did interesting things to both their arousals as the movement had lined them up perfectly for what was inevitable.

Skylar's breath caught in her throat at the contact and Estinien sucked in his own breath through his teeth which gave way to a low growl in his throat.

"You have no idea how much I want to _take_ you – right here against the wall, consequences be damned – and have you come undone by my hand."

Skylar moaned despite herself.

His voice alone did things to her that made her heart race but coupled with the sinfully delicious sound of him talking dirty to her? _Fuck._

She could feel him pressed against her entrance already and by this point she wanted nothing more than for him to fuck her. Hard.

She deliberately rolled her hips to torment him.

The movement made him sink his nails into the flesh of her rear and he growled, eyes flashing dangerously at her.

"Woman you know not what you play at. It has been a long time and my restraint is barely holding but I will not act without your consent."

His voice was gruff, low and full of warning now. She could see his desire battling with him for control.

"So it's permission you're after?" she asked coyly, wrapping her arms around him so she could gently scrape her nails over the skin of his upper back.

Her teeth found the skin of his neck and he growled again as she teased him by alternating between kissing and nipping with her Keeper fangs.

He was hard as iron at her slit and she knew she was pushing him for a rougher reaction, but she couldn't help it. She wanted this. _Needed_ it. _Desperately_ wanted him to lose control with her, to hells with restraint and propriety.

Turning her head to the side so she could place her lips at his ear she began to whisper, her voice low and sultry.

"I thought of you while I was there, you know. On the First, when the stars returned for the first time. I retired to my room, undressed myself... climbed into bed... but I couldn't sleep. All I could do was think of you. Your hands touching me... your mouth kissing me... your cock buried deep ins- _ah_!"

That was it.

There was no pretense of gentleness. No tender care at the movement and certainly no warning.

Unable to help himself any longer Estinien let out a guttural snarl and snapped his hips forward, sheathing himself inside her to the hilt in one swift thrust.

Skylar threw her head back, nails raking his back and cried out, followed by a triumphant laugh as he stretched her and filled her so completely. The burn was exquisite and turned within seconds from pain to a pleasure so very immense as he withdrew slowly only to _slam_ into her again. Estinien set a punishing pace and she could swear he was using some of his dragoon power to strengthen his movement. Every time he bottomed out inside her made her feel so weak that she was sure that if she had been standing her legs would not have been able to support her.

Every thrust pressed her roughly into the wall behind her and she was certain they would break through the old stone there ere long.

Reaching a hand down between them, Estinien set about using callused fingers to rub slowly at the sensitive nub of her clitoris that his tongue had so lavishly spoiled before. The stark contrast between the pace of his hips and his hand was ecstasy and Skylar made pitiful mewling noises as she was held there, helpless to do anything but moan and sob and be _fucked to oblivion_ by this maddeningly gorgeous dragoon who drove her up the wall and apparently _into_ it.

Estinien withdrew his hand from between them to better retain his grip on the ample flesh of her buttocks. He squeezed the curve of her rear with both hands, nails digging in slightly before he lifted her effortlessly only to slam her back down onto his cock, hips pumping into her still.

"Ah! Fury, it feels . . . so _good!_ " Skylar panted, her hands running through that lusciously soft hair of his.

" _Mine_ ," he growled, thrusting vigorously into her wet folds – the sounds of flesh meeting flesh filling the quiet space.

" _Yes_ ," she breathed, delirious from the overwhelming onslaught of desire and pleasure.

His mouth found her throat again and she swore her whole body shook as she felt not lips but _teeth_ at the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

He wanted to mark her, a visible sign for all to see that she belonged to him. The dragon blood within him screaming a primal urge to claim its mate with every beat of his heart.

He growled low in his throat, more animal sounding than before and wondered if there was something left of Nidhogg within him after all.

But the beast inside of him wasn't of the wyrm's making – it was _hers._

_And it was hungry._

"Oh gods, _Estinien_! Please – _don't_ – _stop_!"

"As if I could," he said through clenched teeth.

She could feel her walls tightening around him and a heat flooding through her from her core, spreading outward across her entire body – the telltale signs of her impending orgasm.

"I... I'm g-going to –" she moaned, crossed ankles digging their heels into the small of his back hard, pressing him into her.

She felt Estinien falter as he too approached his climax but he would deny himself release until she had found hers.

Skylar could feel the draconic aether pouring from him now and her own rose to the surface to meet it, both of them simultaneously the moth and the flame.

She knew what his wanted the moment the two touched, like a soul connection that transcended the need for words. There was only instinct and feeling and thousands upon thousands of intricate conversations that passed within the time between the seconds. She could scarce make note of much of anything except that it was the brightest she had ever seen it – a vividly blinding blue that was turning effortlessly to a bloody crimson before her eyes.

_Mate. Claim. Mine._

The wordless desire she felt pulsing from Estinien's own aether bled over into her own and suddenly she knew what it wanted because the desire was so intrinsically her own.

"Come for me," he snarled against her throat, "I want all of Ishgard to know who claims you."

Her draconic aether flared in response.

_Then claim me!_

Estinien gave a roar of triumph not merely his own and sank teeth into the juncture of her throat once more to push her over the brink, hard enough that this time she was sure he had drawn blood.

" _Estinien!"_

Skylar came hard as stars burst in her vision, her body both set aflame and electrified with the onslaught of sensation as she clenched around him, convulsed and shook with the too intense pleasure he wrought from her.

It was like nothing she had ever felt. So beyond anything her own hands had ever accomplished. She could have died right there and been contented with her end.

Estinien did not stop, however.

Fangs still buried in her neck, he pistoned into her, fucking her through her own orgasm until he struggled to keep pace himself – pushing in and pulling out of her in swift, hard movements. His hands dug harder into the flesh of her rear and he pulled her tightly into him as he spilled deep inside her, wet heat flooding her walls, mixing with her own spend.

Estinien withdrew his fangs and clenched his teeth shut as he tried in vain to reign in the cry of ecstasy that she had wrought from the deepest part of him. The first wave he managed to hold within him but the assault from the second and third were simply too much and he called out her name in the dark as he pushed his hips into hers hard enough to press them both into the wall, hard enough to bruise.

Skylar took pleasure in hearing him – the legendary Azure Dragoon himself – make such sounds because of her.

She would have blushed redder than rolanberry had she known he was just as incredulous at having the Warrior of Light herself a contented mess beneath him, his name a mantra written in jagged breaths from the exhaustion of their lovemaking.

Without letting go of her, he carried her to the bed, laying her down on the mattress gently. He propped himself up on his elbows as he lay atop her and pressed his lips to hers tenderly, hands either side of her face, absentmindedly stroking her cheek with his thumb.

"Fury . . " he said breathily as he looked down at the beautiful Miqo'te woman beneath him. Her ever so slightly mismatched eyes – so subtle only being this close to her would make it noticeable – shining in the moonlight from the window. Lips full and swollen from their kisses, parted slightly as she slowly regained her normal breathing.

"You are everything I could have ever wanted," he said softly. "Everything I never knew to pray for. Never believed I could have. You, who have given me purpose beyond my revenge, who never abandoned me even when I was sure all hope was lost. When I could not even remember that I . . . that you . . ."

Estinien broke off, his voice breaking slightly towards the end. He closed his eyes as a he took a breath to steady himself.

Skylar reached up to place her palm against his cheek.

"And you are all that I could ever need. The one to whom I have always belonged, you know that don't you? No matter our paths or our choices. I will be with you always."

He pressed his hand atop hers, nuzzling into her touch.

" _An asah_ ," he whispered, lapsing into dragonspeak, using the nicknames their aether had provided for them once, long ago after the battle on the Final Steps of Faith. " _An ahm_. Please, if you must go back there, to where I cannot follow, at least promise me you will take the greatest care to return to me in one piece. I couldn't live with myself if anything were to happen to you. You mean far too much to me for that. You always have."

"As long as you promise to come and see me more often. I'll have plenty reason to come back here if I know you'll be around to meet me when I return."

He smiled. "Then I think I rather like that linkpearl that Tataru insisted I take."

Skylar feigned shock at the idea.

"Ser Wyrmblood, you really mean to say you will answer should I call?"

"Have I ever left your voice unanswered?"

She wrinkled her nose at him.

"Exactly," he smirked.

Skylar playfully bonked him on the head.

"I never got the chance to say it before," she said, suddenly serious. "But thank you – for rescuing me in the Ghimlyt. I don't know how you did it but truly I am grateful."

His steel dark eyes gazed down at her and she felt the tug of the echo as he remembered that night but she resisted the urge to let it take her under.

That was an explanation for another night.

"What else is a man to do for the one he loves?"

"Not put himself in mortal peril for a start," she chided, wrapping her arms around him to pull him down onto her for warmth and closeness.

He lay his head against her shoulder and embraced her in his arms. He reminded her of an over-large cat with the way he was draped over her.

She wondered with amusement what it would sound like if he too could purr and swallowed back a giggle.

"Says the woman known for doing exactly that to save others."

"It's kind of in my job description," she said apologetically.

"Mayhap, but pray tell when everyone else is saved and the battle is not yet won – who is it that saves you? The rest of Eorzea seems to forget about that part."

The last of his words were tinged with some anger but she pressed her lips to the top of his head to calm him and snuggled down as Estinien pulled the blanket over them.

"You do," she said simply.

"Hmph. Then so long as you must do your job," he said, eyes closed. "So too shall I do mine."

"Thank you, _an ehsk_."

She could feel the urge to sleep washing over her now and she smiled as she heard his response before it pulled her under.

"For you? Anything, my lady."

* * *

**EXTRA:** _for a friend._

* * *

They had been asleep for a few hours at most when the fire that had dwindled down to embers suddenly began to sizzle with enthusiasm.

Estinien was the first to notice since he was facing that direction.

He nudged Skylar and she grumbled at being woken.

"Wha'ss up?"

"We're not alone."

Skylar shoved Estinien off of her and sat bolt upright. In the darkened room she could still see somewhat better than the average Hyur but not quite as good as the average Miqo’te. It was because of this that her impaired sight missed the subtle change in the fireplace at first glance.

It wasn't until Estinien placed a hand gently on her jaw and angled her face towards it that she realised what she was looking at.

"What in Thal's left bollock?" she questioned, climbing off the bed and walking barefoot across the floor towards it.

As she made to kneel down in front of it, however, the embers burst to life and a creature made entirely of flames flew towards her out of the fire.

The shock made her screech like a wounded banshee and she threw herself backwards fast enough that she landed hard on her ass on the wooden floor.

Estinien was already on his feet, weapon in hand though he too was wearing nothing. He angled his body and lance protectively between her and their unannounced visitor.

It wasn't until Skylar started cursing instead of scrambling to her feet to fight back that Estinien did a double take.

"Godsdamnit you thrice damned daughter of a bastard couerl – I am going to _kill_ you when I find out where you are you little shi-"

"For the benefit of those who clearly haven't the first bloody clue," Estinien said, looking from the now fully formed egi before him and the hissing and spitting ball of fur who had been unceremoniously plonked on her backside, "do you mind telling me what this is all ab-"

"Talia!" she said by way of explanation.

"Talia? The summoner?"

"Yes! That little _witch_ – ooh just you _wait_ , you scared me half to death you absolutely infuriating little –"

Before she could finish, the Ifrit egi had floated soundlessly towards her and stopped right in front of her face, hovering as it watched her intently.

Skylar waited with apprehension, wondering whether the creature had suddenly decided to react to her badmouthing what was essentially its master

It raised one of its spindly little arms and stretched out a single finger towards her.

Skylar scrunched her face as she felt the tip of an aetherial finger press harmlessly to the tip of her nose.

Her eyes went wide.

Had it – had it just _booped_ _her on the nose_?

The egi bobbed up and down a little as though laughing silently and Skylar couldn't help but giggle at the absurdity of it.

Its job clearly done, it disappeared with a burst of aether which ebbed and flowed its way back to the embers in the fireplace where they burned brightly for a moment before dying out completely.

"It would seem I am not the only one Tataru informed of your whereabouts. Is that woman always so loose lipped with such information?"

Skylar shook her head in the dark as she heard Estinien place his lance back against the wall.

"No but then there wouldn't be much point in not telling Talia either – she would know I was here even if Tataru had said nothing."

Skylar made to stand by grasping for the edge of the bed but Estinien took her hand instead and helped her to her feet.

"As you can tell by that little display," Skylar continued, "she's rather gifted with aetherial manipulation and has a memory like a damned matanga when it comes to remembering the scent of an individual's aether."

"Ah so she was the one who helped you to track me down when Nidhogg took me?"

"Yes, she's been assisting Krile by helping to monitor the Scions' aether while they've been stuck on the other side," she replied. "She must have made her way here once she discovered the news."

Estinien sighed.

"Do none of your friends know what a delivery moogle is?"

Skylar laughed. "They do but Talia likes to do things a little... _differently_. You should come with me to see her tomorrow."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, she's not as crazy as she seems."

In the quiet they heard the ghost of a laugh float up from downstairs and Skylar thought it had the distinct edge of a woman who had clearly had transpired events relayed to her upon re-absorbing the egi she had created.

Eatinien gave her a look.

"Are you sure?"

Skylar laughed again.

"Not anymore."

**Author's Note:**

> The extra part at the end is a gift and a cameo for my friend who often reads my writing (no matter how terrible) and whose WoL is as lovely as she is.  
> Thank you for allowing me to borrow her for the added fun! 
> 
> Thank you for reading, please let me know what you thought in the comments below. 😊


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